The invention relates generally to a method for manufacturing a machine bearing comprising an elastic spring element made of rubber, particularly to one in which the elastic spring element is affixed to a ring element made of an elastically deformable material.
Such a ring element may be a component of a hydraulically damping machine bearing that is joined to a metallic bearing support. The ring element comprises a mounting flange, which is fastenable to the bearing support, and a seating flange to accommodate the annular elastic spring element. The elastic spring element has a generally hollow-conical shape. On the side facing away from the bearing support, the machine bearing is delimited by a thrust bearing, which is joined to the elastic spring element. In heretofore known methods, the ring element of this type of machine bearing was manufactured by punching an annular disc out of a flat sheet metal part and subsequently giving it the shape required for assembly using a reshaping method, such as deep drawing. This method requires substantial quantities of material, since considerable punching waste is produced when circular rings are punched out of flat sheet metal. Another disadvantage is that the reshaping operation results in the ready-to-fit ring element having sections of varying material strength along its axial extent, the lowest material strengths occurring, depending upon the particular manufacturing method employed, in the area of the lateral edges of the ring element, where the elastic spring element and the bearing support are affixed. This weakening of the material is caused by the plastic stretching it undergoes during reshaping and the resultant loss of thickness in these regions. The working properties of a machine bearing of this type are less than satisfactory, since elastic deformations of the ring element, particularly in the area where the elastic spring element is affixed, lead to a further change in the performance characteristics of the bearing. The material weakening of the ring element can be reduced by using high-quality sheet metal that is capable of being deep-drawn; however, such materials are not very economical to use.
This invention is directed towards the problem of further developing a manufacturing method to produce an article of the type described above that simplifies the manufacture of the ring element and hence, the machine bearing as a whole, so as to substantially reduce the material required to manufacture the ring element while not requiring the use of high-quality deep-drawn sheet metal. Furthermore, the invention is directed towards the problem of providing that such a method result in a ring element that offers an essentially uniform material strength along its extent.